The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Broncos Country is over this awful product

The fanbase is ticked off.

Broncos Country, once again, headed for the exits early on Sunday in a close game. It happened a couple weeks ago on Thursday Night Football against the Colts and happened again versus the Jets. We’ll get to more on that in a moment, but empty seats can’t be something the new owners are comfortable with.

When the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group (WPFOG) bought the team for a cool $4.65 billion, they couldn’t have imagined things would be this bad, this quickly. After a disgusting 16-9 loss to New York, Denver is just 2-5 on the season.

How did it happen and what were the biggest takeaways? Let’s dive into it with our seventh edition of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

The Good

The defense, once again, is proving to be elite.

They held the Jets to just 16 points and QB Zach Wilson threw for only 121 yards on 26 attempts. Outside of a breakdown on a 62-yard touchdown run by rookie sensation Breece Hall (who unfortunately shredded his knee), the unit played outstanding. Outside of the one gaffe, they held New York to three lousy field goals. That should be enough to win you a game, just like so many other times this season.

Dre’Mont Jones continues to be a monster on the interior defensive line, registering two sacks. After a huge week against the Chargers, Alex Singleton followed up with another 11 tackles while filling in for Josey Jewell at middle linebacker. The Broncos hit Wilson five times.

There might not be a mutiny yet, but to be a fly on the wall in Denver’s locker room would be fascinating. The defense can’t be pleased with their teammates on offense.

The Bad

Brett Rypien isn’t better than Russell Wilson. And any fans who thought as much were delusional. Rypien will hold a clipboard in the NFL for awhile because he’s a backup. He’s a nice kid, but that’s just who the guy is.

He chucked the ball 46 times, completing just 24 of those passes. His 225 yards through the air worked out to just 4.9 yards per completion. Denver’s No. 1 receiver, Courtland Sutton, was a non-factor throughout the game. He finished with three catches for 23 yards. At least Jerry Jeudy popped a bit, registering seven grabs for 96 yards.

The running game was nothing to write home about, especially “starter” Melvin Gordon. He ran 11 times for 33 yards, an average of a tidy three yards per carry. Forget Gordon’s fumbling issues preventing him from being reliable. Even when he holds onto the rock he just looks old and not like an NFL back much longer, if at all. Veteran Latavius Murray also averaged just three yards per rush and Mike Boone got hurt. This offense is broken.

The Ugly

The stadium was empty as the Broncos scrambled to try to tie the game.

Okay, not COVID 2020 type empty, but at least half the fans headed for the exits with the game not over and Denver down just 16-9. After they forced the Jets to punt and got the ball back with 90 seconds on the clock, the shots of the stands were jarring. Broncos Country had seen enough and is sick of this product. They knew Rypien wasn’t going to lead a touchdown drive to tie the game.

This place cleared out. And yet the Broncos will have a chance to tie or win the game and about 1:30 to do it. pic.twitter.com/I9RrnHeThw

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) October 23, 2022

I mean, come on, that’s just crazy! The best fans in the NFL had enough. And for the record, I don’t blame them at all. This is on GM George Paton, who bungled his head coaching search this offseason, and the man he hired for the job in Nathaniel Hackett. It’s painfully obvious Hackett is in over his head.

The Broncos have a long flight to London ahead of them to think about all this. But right now, it’s ugly. And a disgruntled fanbase has seen enough, maybe for the rest of this season.

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